Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Zandhor

He rested his head against the wall. Zandhor wasn't sure what she knew or didn't know. He wanted to be honest. But he didn't want to paint a picture that she'd have in her head when she thought of him. "Those of us who were moved to Dorvan believe that if our owner wasn't already in trouble... that he moved because the cold planet restricted what he could do with us."

"I don't understand."

He thought for a few moments and hit on something that should make sense. "On the cold planet, we fought as gladiators. But there were rules and procedures we had to follow. We never fought to the death. On Dorvan, the owner had his own fighting pit and stadium. Many fights were to the death, and the rules disappeared."

Before he realized he was going to tell her, he shared more of the horror, "Once we moved to Dorvan, and after the owner collected other species, we were often given to the wealthy fight spectators when we won a match. Those who weren't gladiators were sold by the hour to any who could pay the price. But regardless of our status, we were expected to... perform for payment. And anything done to us would be filmed and sold to the highest bidder."

He tried to tell her about that time, without sharing the details. He could hear Tallie sigh heavily. And he thought she might be crying. He didn't want her to cry.

"You were abused," Tallie said. "As a slave, no matter how big and strong you are, you can't control what happens to you. Even screaming the word no, and fighting with every bit of your strength, won't stop the abuse. Those in power can subject you to whatever atrocity they want. I'm sorry you had to go through that, Zandhor."

He sighed. "We all did. No one on this ship has escaped the whim of others." Zandhor had heard the young avian child talking to Tallie. He knew she'd been hurt when she was a captive. So yes, all of those on this ship had been abused. The details didn't matter.

He could barely stomach the thought of Tallie being hurt. She was such a tiny thing. Her hands and wrists were small. If she fought back at all, it would be easy for her to break a limb. She could be easily damaged.

He didn't want that image in his head. He needed to find other things to talk about. "When you and your friends came to save us, I thought it was too good to be true. We were waiting for the rescue to turn into punishment or another cage."

Tallie laughed. "We were there to save my friend Kaitlyn. But we knew about the zoo. And all the women on the Siloth ship had been slaves. Some for only a few days or weeks, some for their entire lives. We wouldn't have left you there. Many of us plan to continue rescuing slaves. Once my Earth friends are married, I plan to help free as many slaves as I can find."

He didn't tell her that the plan was dangerous. It was probably why she brought the gladiators onboard. For muscle and protection on any mission to liberate a slave. Zandhor heard the passion in her voice. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift for a moment. Thinking about how he felt, locked away, and made to do things that disgusted him. Would he like to change the fate of others?

Yes. He could spend a lifetime helping free slaves. That passion wasn't hard to find. "I've heard that term before. Human. Or humanoid. Sometimes the gladiators were classified as human and non-human. LeChar was typically classified as non-human. I don't understand the difference."

Tallie Listens

It took her several minutes to answer. She was thinking about what Zandhor said. That LeChar was typically classified as non-human. She thought about all the different women she'd met. Humanoid women from very different planets.

"The planet my friends come from is Earth. On that planet, humans rule. They say that there aren't any other beings who can communicate or govern. It may be like some of the other planets, where that capability is discovered once they have translators. A human being to them is someone who walks on two legs, has two arms, can speak and reason, and carries live young. A humanoid is someone close to the same, who comes from another planet or who may have more appendages. There are lots of human-looking aliens. I'm humanoid, you're humanoid. We sort of look human and can talk and reason."

Tallie frowned. Was that the only difference? "I don't know why LeChar is considered non-human by some. He looks humanoid. Do you know why?" She didn't want to make assumptions. Just because he creeped her out didn't mean he wasn't a sentient being.

She heard Zandhor sigh. "He was taken captive as a baby and never given a translator. So, the only words he speaks are the few things I and the other gladiators have been able to teach him. It has taken a number of years because we could only help him between matches. We use the universal dialect, and he can ask for water and food. Or tell one of the medics that he is hurt. But that is it. He doesn't understand much of what goes on around him. So, they labeled him feral and treat him like an animal. His cage was set up for an animal and never cleaned. I think he scared you." He cleared his voice. "I know we all scared you. But LeChar... when he is afraid, or unhappy, or well... anything. He pulls on his cock. It's like..." his voice drifted off.

She filled in the blanks. "A security blanket. My friend Lauren once said she wished she had her security blanket. I asked her to explain that to me. She said it was a blanket that she'd had since she was a small child. Something that was wrapped around her when she was tired, or sick, or just needed something to hold on to. Lauren kept it because even when she became an adult, there were times she needed that security."

And now Tallie felt horrible for shooting LeChar with the silver cane and knocking him out.